Early-risers in Cairo on Wednesday had a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the transit of the planet Venus across the sun.

 

Hatem Ouda, president of the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG) told state news agency MENA that the planet was spotted moving across Earth's nearest star at 6:37am and was visible for exactly 18 minutes.

 

NRIAG will share pictures of the event with other international astronomical institutes, Ouda said.

 

The spectacle was visible in many other regions of the world, including East Asia, Eastern Australia, northwest North America, the Arctic and the North Pacific Ocean.

 

The 'crossing' was a rare phenomena -- it is next predicted to happen in the year 2117.